Christina & David’s intimate Hotel du Vin Tunbridge Wells wedding

I absolutely loved photographing Christina and David’s wedding at Hotel du Vin Tunbridge Wells last year. Although they were only having short coverage – no bride or groom prep, and a wedding that finished with coffee and tea just after the speeches, it was an honour and a pleasure to cover their special day!

Christina and David would be the first to admit they’re perhaps not my usual wedding couple, but their back story is so touching. Christina and David met at a bereavement support group, having both lost their partners of 40+ years. From this meeting, love blossomed and it was amazing to see them both happy again and many generations of their two families joining together. As you’ll see, there was so much happiness it truly was a special day.

Please enjoy looking through a snapshot of their wedding day – if you’re getting married and want relaxed coverage of your wedding day, do please contact me to discuss your requirements.

Pre-ceremony

As neither Christina or David really wanted any prep covered, I started the day photographing the hotel and ceremony room details, before joining David and the guests in the Tea Lounge prior to the ceremony. Once the buttonholes had gone on, everyone relaxed with a pre-ceremony drink. Whilst the guests relaxed, a spot of practice was going on in the Ruinart room, as one of the couples grandsons was going to play the trumpet for Christina’s entrance – once he’d had a (flawless) run-through, it was time for the guests to head through to the Ruinart room ready for the ceremony.

Ceremony

Meanwhile I headed to meet up with Christina and her small bridal party (granddaughter as bridesmaid and Christina’s sons who were accompanying her down the aisle) and then photograph them coming down the lovely atmospheric staircase at the hotel.

Having made my way to the front of the room, it was time for their absolutely lovely ceremony to begin – with the trumpet entrance of course!

Drinks Reception

After the ceremony we headed straight out onto the back lawn into the lovely spring sunshine and straight into a few quick group shots. Once those were in the bag, everyone enjoyed drinks and the (as usual) stunning canapes in the sun whilst congratulating the happy couple. After a while the wind got a little too much (despite the sun) so a few of the guests headed back inside to relax in the Tea Lounge whilst others got comfortable in the bar area, so I just split my time between all three. As this was an intimate affair, there was a bit less time pressure to proceedings meaning I was free to really concentrate on the candids.

Christina, David and I headed through to the Havana room for a couple of quick portraits (in the warmth!).

Wedding breakfast

As the Ruinart room had now been (skillfully and efficiently, as usual) turned round for the wedding breakfast, I made my way in to capture the details before the guests started to come through and take their seats for the wedding breakfast. As usual, I popped into the room between courses as I find this is a great time for capturing candid shots of the guests having fun!

Before long we were into the speeches. As you would expect, these were very loving and touching – it was hard for their not to be emotion due to the circumstances of their meeting, but I’m glad to say there was also a lot of happiness and laughter to proceedings.

After the speeches, the guests enjoyed coffee and chocolates and finished off their drinks. I photographed candidly as the guests relaxed, staying as the wedding slowly naturally wound down. It’s sometimes makes a great change for a wedding to finish like this as guests say their goodbyes – normally having covered enough of the dancing I will be long-gone when the goodbyes start happening!

Congratulations once again to Christina and David – I’m so glad you both found each other and wish you and your new families all the happiness for the future!